Starting off the New Year, I presented in January to the Bell woodturners group on how I make my Native American style flutes.

The flute I make is in the woodland style; it takes several days to make.  So rather than show just the turning part of  flute making, I went through all of the steps involved and had flutes that I was currently making to show the various stages.

To start I had some volunteers help by playing rhythm instruments.  With a good rhythm going from the instrumentalists, I then played a flute so they could see how improvising on a Native American style flute works with other rhythm instruments.

The group was great for improvising on short notice and without having rehearsed.  With a smooth rhythm going (and a bit of laughter) we sounded pretty good!

It was a great audience that asked good questions.  We moved through the stages of the flute from routing two halves, glue-up, working on the nest to final flute.

Questions about how density of wood affects sound to measurements for the flue all kept me on my toes.  It was a challenge and an honor to present my flute making to my woodturning group.

Special thanks to my photographer for this event.